Mumbai: Canada will put pause on all in-person services in its Consulates in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Bengaluru in India. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly made this announcement today.

Amid India-Canada diplomatic tensions, she said India’s decision to unilaterally remove diplomatic immunities for all but 21 Canadian diplomats and dependents in Delhi by October 20 will impact the levels of services to citizens in both countries.

Melanie Joly said “As of now, I can confirm that India has formally conveyed its plan to unilaterally remove diplomatic immunities for all but 21 Canadian diplomats and dependents in Delhi by October 20. This means 41 Canadian diplomats and their 42 dependents were in danger of having immunity stripped on an arbitrary date and this would put their personal safety at risk…Canadians watching may be wondering what this means for our operations in India. There’s no question that India’s decision will impact the levels of services to citizens in both countries. Unfortunately, we have to put a pause on all in-person services in our Consulates in Chandigarh, in Mumbai and in Bangalore…”

The minister further added that Canadians in need of immigration and consular services in India can still visit Canadian high commission in Delhi in person, by phone and by email.

We have seen the Statement by the Government of Canada on October 19 regarding Canadian diplomatic presence in India.

The state of our bilateral relations, the much higher number of Canadian diplomats in India, and their continued interference in our internal affairs warrant a parity in mutual diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Ottawa.

The Government of India sources meanwhile today said there is no impact on Canadian diplomatic strength in their Consulates in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Chandigarh. The Canadian decision to suspend in-person operations of their three consulates in India, is unilateral, and not related to the implementation of parity.

Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, Govt of India in a statement said: We have been engaged with the Canadian side on this over the last month in order to work out the details and modalities of its implementation.

Our actions in implementing this parity are fully consistent with Article 11.1 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which states the following:

“In the absence of specific agreement as to the size of the mission, the receiving State may require that the size of a mission be kept within limits considered by it to be reasonable and normal, having regard to circumstances and conditions in the receiving State and to the needs of the particular mission.”

We reject any attempt to portray the implementation of parity as a violation of international norms.
DeshGujarat